Keyserlingk - A Collection of Quotes and Sources

[felis]

1. Two reports written by Hofrat König (undercover Saxon envoy) in 1740, which can be found in Volz' "Spiegel". One of them is even all about Keyserlingk, titled "Report on the character of the current Royal Prussian Favourite, Baron von Keyserlingk, and my secret conversations with him". König says they met when Keyserlingk visited Dresden (unclear when) and became good friends, and he gives quite a few verbatim and paraphrased quotes, even says he got to read some of Fritz' poetry and letters to Keyserlingk (who also read said poetry to him, ha).


According to König, even after Fritz was allowed to invite Keyserlingk to Rheinsberg from 1736 on - after FW wanted to keep them apart "for various reasons" before (not vague at all, König!) - FW still kept an eye on them and occasionally gave orders that Keyserlingk should return to his regiment already. As a result, they met in secret and Keyserlingk even came to Berlin incognito (as "von Blanckenau") to spend time with Fritz, up until the end of FW's reign, i.e. during the first months of 1740. So given that, there might be some kind of kernel for the questionable and still unverified anecdote mildred_of_midgard found about trying to keep meetings secret.

After Fritz became King, König describes this as the state of affairs: "Not enough that he [Keyserlingk] has to live at the same place as the King all the time; the King also visits him - as often as his busy affairs allow - almost hourly, so to speak, in [Keyserlingk's] own chambers."

Keyserlingk became seriously ill quite soon after Fritz became King (in his own words: because he was so overwhelmed with feelings) and when he was on the mend, König visited him and reported that since Fritz was sick as well and couldn't walk and visit himself, messengers came to look after Keyserlingk and to tell him to follow Doctor's orders and to take it easy basically every other minute ("messengers" in this case included people like Jordan and Fredersdorf).

König's description of Keyserlingk: He hops, he dances, he jokes, he laughs, he reads, he writes, he works, he accepts visits, he does serious business, he sings now in French, now in Italian, now in German, he plays the flute, he plays the viola da gamba, he composes music [...], he declaims, he writes now German, now French verses, he draws - and all of this one with the other, as it comes to him, without ever going insane or getting tired.

Other tidbits:

- Fritz openly praised Keyserlingk and mentioned that his perpetual cheerfulness and equanimity got him through the desperate moments of the crown prince years (not quite sure if he means pre-1730 mostly or also post).

[In this context, mildred_of_midgard reminds us that he was the one who Fritz described as like the sun breaking through the clouds whenever he appeared [...].]

- As we know, Fritz didn't like smoking and hated the smell of it, but Keyserlingk was allowed, even after Fritz asked him if he wouldn't give it up for him. (Apparently, he didn't do it while Fritz visited, though.)

- Keyserlingk was bad with money, so Fritz appointed himself his treasurer and was involved "in the tiniest details" of his life.

- On the other hand - or maybe in the same vein - no politics for Keyserlingk, either. I mean, it's entirely possible Keyserlingk downplayed his chances because König was quite insistent to further the Saxon cause, but it would certainly be very in character that Fritz told Keyserlingk to live without any worries and not bother with politics. Keyserlingk is also quoted as saying that one has to be very careful and wait for the right moment if one wants to tell Fritz anything, i.e. one shouldn't come to him with ideas and proposals, but wait until Fritz gets to a topic himself, let him talk and then he'd be much more open to hearing other ideas. Which strikes me as completely on point, as does König's observation that Fritz was very keen on asserting his authority at the beginning and never once giving the impression that he'd be led by anyone. (And IMO, especially not by Keyserlingk, whom he praised openly and had as his favourite friend and who obviously was on people's lists as The Favourite.)

- As I said, Keyserlingk apparently showed König some of Fritz' most tender ("allerzärtlichste") letters. König quotes one which gives Fritz' opinions on Valori and Rudenskjöld (which we already know from his letters to Camas and Voltaire on the same subject), but he also mentions several instances where Fritz comes across as rather needy (my words, not his!), i.e. telling Keyserlingk that he should reassure him of his love and friendship more. (If they really didn't get to see each other all that often because of FW, that sure makes sense to me, too.) Finally, König calls Keyserlingk the "most loved favourite" and also says that Fritz is "in good hands" with him (also in terms of Saxon prospects).


2. Early Days and Picking Keyserlingk Discussion


selenak: Checking Volz "FtG im Spiegel seiner Zeitgenossen", I found this Keyserlingk relevant quote in a letter from Hille to Grumbkow, Küstrin. 30. September 1731.

I had a longer confidential conversation with the Crown Prince. He told me that your excellency has touched on the matter of the marriage with the Princess of Bevern in a letter to Herr von Wolden. (Fritz) would agree to it, despite the Princess being ugly and stupid, as long as the mediation of the Empress would assure him of good conditions. Among other things, he wishes to have Herr von Keyserlingk as a companion, and aske me to write to your Exellency about this. I asked him: "If the Princess is ugly and stupid, will you be able to live with her and love her then?"
"No, certainly not," he replied.
"And what will you do then?“
"I'll ditch her as soon as I am my own master," he answered. "One has to forgive me for getting out of a tight spot as best I can."
To this, I replied that he should be certain neither your Excellency nor another man of honor would go along with something like this. There could be only misfortune as a result if he truly believed that a miserable marriage had no consequences and that it was okay to break one's marital vows. Moreover, he would only cause new distress for himself if he as much as hinted on wanting Herr von Keyserlingk as a companion. I don't know the gentleman in question, but I heard that his character is such that the King will not consider interaction with to improve one's moral character.

mildred_of_midgard: Considering that FW appointed Keyserlingk, and that in January 1730 was telling him (and Rochow) to sleep every night in the same room with Fritz, that's quite the about-face. Was Keyserlingk implicated in the escape attempt? I don't remember this happening, but it could have. When did FW decide he had a bad character?

selenak: What FW originally saw in Keyserlingk: actually, if K was the type of be friendly and charming to everyone, he might have charmed FW as well. Despite being short, not tall. I mean: FW had affective needs, too, and was far from immune to likeable cultured people, as long as they were also military (see Seckendorff, who had an excellent education and was multilingual) and put an emphasis on this in his presence or could adopt a bluff honest fellow type of persona (which Manteuffel somehow managed when with FW despite never having been a soldier and being known as a man of culture). So maybe he just liked the guy, had the impression K liked and honored him (since K had the gift of making everyone believe they were his friends), and thought K would spread that attitude to Fritz. (The liking and honoring FW.).

You can also do what Klepper did and argue that appointing people like Duhan and Keyserlingk wasn‘t unintentional but intentional on FW‘s part in that he wanted to appoint teachers and governors whom Fritz would like, so he would enjoy learning from them. (With the basic idea that the lessons would be how to be a good soldier and a good son first and foremost, of course.). The anthology essay about FW as a father to the younger sibs also says that he had a good hand with teachers for the sons, since AW, Heinrich and Ferdinand loved „Kroiz“ the gay teacher, too, and kept him around after they‘d grown up. And of course the ideal from which he started was that he was to be the beloved fun parent and SD the discipline parent. Maybe the original appointments also were with this in mind.

Now, if there had been any testimony during all the interrogations connecting Keyserlingk to the escape attempt, he would hardly have been just transfered back to his original regiment. But FW was paranoid post August of 1730 in this regard as well as in all other, and he may have suspected without being able to prove anything, much like he never really stopped believing in the Clement plot. His image of himself as tough but fair would have prevented him from outright punishing Keyserlingk, since there had been zero proof of anything. But if the suspicion was there, this could have explained why he wasn‘t keen on the friendship being resumed, or at least not to an intense degree.

And hey, let‘s face it, he would not have to suspect any gay element there. I mean, this is the same FW who still won‘t Wilhelmine and Fritz meet more than three times in the eight months she spends in Berlin post marriage, and not at all when Fritz is travelling to the Eugene campaign so they have to arrange a secret meeting via Knobelsdorff. „This person loves Fritz and is loved by him more than me and probably knew what was up before the escape attempt“ could totally have been enough.

felis: Another idea I just had: to check if FW had anything to say about the Rochow/Keyserlingk appointment (in early 1729 by the way) in his letters to Old Dessauer and lo! He had, except it's a bit incomprehensible - he reports (in March 1729) that he appointed "Rocho" and "Keiserling" and describes them as follows: "der eine ist cerios der ander salleter / alle beide [haben] verstand" I suspect cerios is supposed to mean "serious" but "salleter"? Even the footnotes are only guessing ("Komparativ of salé?") in this case. If it does mean something along the lines of "spicier [than Rochow]", maybe he did indeed mean to have one more serious and one more gaudy after all.

selenak: Also "seriös", which isn't quite the same thing, but fits Rochow, and I think "salleter" als a Komperativ of salé is probably a good guess for FW's French-German mingling mind - saltier, more peppery.

felis: ... oh, hey, and I see that in February, FW was still looking for people. He's talking about Kalckstein's future position and then says "but not until I've found someone to be a 'bon amy' with my son". (Also: "Eurer Lieben [which is what he always calls Leopold] be so good and suggest a few people - if I choose one of them, good, if not, it'll stay between us, Kalckstein doesn't know anything yet".)


3. Fritz Poetry and Letters of Grief

Since the Fritz/Keyerlingk correspondence - described as "lively" - went missing (or "missing") very early on, there are no letters between them to read, but some Keyserlingk related poetry survived, and Fritz occasionally talks about Keyserlingk to other people (particularly after his death in 1745).

a) A lament after Keyserlingk's death in 1745, Aux Manes de Césarion, which includes a "our two hearts became one heart" line. (I remember that he also wrote in a letter that they had one soul - I'll have to find that again. I know he also used that expression for Wilhelmine, but I haven't come across any other instance of it besides those two.)

[mildred_of_misgard: I'm also reminded of this:

Think how unfortunate I am to have lost, almost at the same time, my poor Jordan and my dear Keyserlingk. They were my family, and I think I am now a widower, an orphan

felis: Surprisingly, next to Countess Camas and Duhan, it was Maupertuis who got multiple letters in a row in which Fritz shared his grief. (Maupertuis had just returned from France and was about to marry.) The quote is from October 6th: I am obliged, my dear Maupertuis, for your good morals; it is not the precepts that embarrass me, but the practice. Keyserlingk and I had only one soul, it seemed to me that we should die together; all of a sudden I learn that he is no more. [...] (In another letter he also says that while he somewhat expected Jordan's death, Keyserlingk's caught him completely unawares.)

[There must have been even more letters, though, see this letter from EC to her brother: "I am delighted that Knobelsdorff is going to visit the king. Since he knows him, he can speak more boldly to him; for I am in the utmost worry for the king and I fear that the grief he feels about Keyserlingk's death will damage his health: all letters to his friends concern only Keyserlingk and laments about his loss; some letters are wiped out by tears."]]


b) A pretty lighthearted Epitre from 1741, during the war, where he's looking forward to enjoying the pure freedom of "the intoxication of friendship" at Charlottenburg after his return.

c) A Keyserlingk section as the culmination of the Ode against Flattery, which he sent to Camas and Voltaire in January 1740, and which is kind of interesting for its take on friendship:

Caesarion, faithful friend,
More tender than Pirithous,
I find in you the model
Of the first of the virtues. [= friendship I assume]
May our friendship without weakness
Unveil us with boldness
our mistakes and our faults,
so that the gold that fire prepares
purifies, and is separated
from lead and the basest metals.

d) Finally, A Césarion, from June 1738 (which unlike the others doesn't have a German translation). It's a looong anti-Berlin/court/religion piece and has things to say about his separation from Keyserlingk, which seem to support König's report that even after 1736, FW kept a lid on their relationship - see the bolded part, where I'm not sure if the demon is a poetic expression or if he means FW. Thoughts?

[...]
My mind free from the bonds with
which the court chained my hands,
[...]
Finally escaped from the palace
Where the bondage of oppression
Held, with its inhuman hand,
My freedom in its nets,
[...]
I can, dear friend, without fear,
free and sole master of myself,
confide in you how much I love you.
For the lively feelings of my heart
your heart will serve as an interpreter;
[...]
But after the pleasure, when I think about it,
Pain soon follows:
Of a demon jealous of happiness,
I feel his malicious influence,
It is he who causes your absence,
makes it even worse by its length.
When this demon full of fury
Calms his unwelcome ardor,
Will he have the gallantry
To leave to your protector,
your tutelary seraph, [?]
the pleasure, the glory, and the honor
to lead you, full of vigor,
to find your polar star
and inhale the divine odor,
the perfumes of our meadow?

Come quickly, for my happiness,
to see again this flowery shore,
your true and your only country,
where, without you, the source of
good humor is dried up forever.
The iron drawn to the magnet
feels a less intense impulse
than the impatient desire
for a tender and fearful friendship.
A thousand evils threaten your days;
Slow and painful gout
with a homicidal hand digs
your grave, accelerating their course.
Alas! should the life
in my arms be taken away from you?
Should you suffer death?
No, it is only for common souls
To languish in misfortunes;
Heaven must watch over your steps.
[...]

The ending then sounds like Fritz was preparing to comfort Keyserlingk over a bad love affair - at least that's how I'm reading the final verses, what with the "cruel love" and all:

Come back to taste in my retreat
The pleasures that my hand is preparing for you,
Come back to pour out in my bosom
The sorrow of your secret pain,
The laments of your fate;
And in the arms of a tender friend,
Your heart will be able at least to wait
That the ungrateful and cruel love,
More flexible, wants to listen to you
And to testify to you of the return.

[selenak: The demon does sound like FW, but it might also just be a metaphor, especially if it's not FW but a love/proposed marriage affair which is been keeping Keyserlingk away.

mildred_of_midgard: Yeah, having looked at the poem, I can read it either way. Fritz and Suhm were definitely capable of doing the "you know who I mean" thing when dissing FW, but it also sounds like a very Fritzian metaphor.]


4. mildred_of_midgard: A few other descriptions of Keyserlingk.

Bielfeld, at Rheinsberg:

Baron von K--- is a gentleman of Courland, engaged in the military service of the King of Prussia, and particularly attached to the person of the prince roial. It was some time before I could meet with him , and I had heard so much of him, and was so much prejudiced in his favor, that I burnd with impatience to see him. He enterd the hall like a whirlwind, or like Boreas in the ballet of the Rose. He was just come from hunting, and it appeard odd enough to see him in a night-gown, and with a gun upon his shoulder. He accosted me at once with an air of perfect ease, and his first words appeard to me as if I had been for a long time honord with his particular friendship. He took me by the arm and led me into his chamber; and while he dresd , he repeated scraps of the Henriade, and strings of German verses, and talkd of hounds and horses; cut some cross capers; and practised some steps in the rigadoon a la Balon; then talkd on politics, mathematics, painting, architecture, literary and military matters. I remaind immoveable; listend with a profound silence, and admired every thing, even the happy transitions by which he pasd so rapidly from one subject to another. I seemd however, to perceive that this extreme vivacity could not be altogether natural, and that it did not entirely flow from an abundant resource of genius: and though time has not quite banishd this suspicion, I find nevertheles on a further acquaintance, that baron K--- is a very amiable gentleman, that he has a mind adornd with much pleasing knowledge, that he both talks and writes well, and in vers as well as profe, that he has a humor naturaly gay, and a noble heart. His figur is not very engaging: he is short and thick; has small eyes, a large nose, a wide mouth, and a sallow complexion. He has however, an easyair, a graceful presence, and all that he says or does, is in the manner of a man of birth. By attaching himself to the prince roial, he has contracted his taffe. He loves music, architecture, painting, poetry, &c. but the disciple is still inferior to his master.

Bielfeld on Keyserlingk right after Fritz becomes king:

His apartments are never empty: all his doors are markd with the title of Cesarion, which the king has given him, and of which he seems to me to make a dangerous use. He receives 50 letters of felicitation and busines in a day, and employs several secretaries in writing answers, Imbrued with the waters of Hypocrene, they flow from the end of his pen in a torrent of vers, which however does not always appear to be genuine. He receives every day some litle present from the king , which has the same effect on his mind, as great benefactions have on those of others. He runs about the garden and every part of the palace, with a litle amber flagelet at his buttonhole; he plays upon his base viol, he sings, he laughs, he jokes and rallys. - I was fearful from the beginning, that so violent an agitation would affect his head, and so it has happend. He was seizd yesterday with a violent fever, which confines him to his bed. His secretarys are dismisd; M. Jordan has drawn up a form, which serves as a general answer to all his letters'; and we well hope that tranquility will soon be restored to the mind, and to the dwelling of the amiable Cesarion.

Hypocrene or Hippocrene: in Greek mythology, a spring that was supposed to fill the drinker with poetic inspiration.

Keep in mind that Bielfeld was publishing in the 1760s, and it's widely suspected that while he was purporting to be publishing letters he sent as events unfolded, he was actually writing an after-the-fact book and formatting it as letters.

Wilhelmine, not a fan, writing about FW's choice of governors for Fritz:

Two officers were assigned to the prince...as companions; one was colonel de Rochow, a man of great probity, but of a very narrow capacity; the other, major de Kaiserling, a very honest man too, but very giddy and a great talker, who pretended to be witty, and was nothing but a library in confusion. My brother liked them both very well, but Kaiserling, being the youngest and very dissolute, obtained of course the preference.

And Pöllnitz (copied from Hamilton's Rheinsberg volume, including the ellipses):

[Keyserlingk] was more unruly than a school-boy, and his tongue was amazingly voluble. He talked German, French, Italian, Latin, Polish, and Dutch, and often all these languages in the same conversation...His memory made up for want of cleverness...By his own account he knew everything, yet he was superficial in everything...Nothing could exceed his kindness of heart; he carried it so far as to be everybody's friend, which was the reason people did not set great value on his friendship [Mildred: Other than Fritz, you mean?] Honour and candour were the mainsprings of all his actions. When he died he was universally regretted.


5. Keyserlingk's Marriage and Eulogy

selenak: When did Keyserlingk marry again? Wasn't that in 1740 (since his wedding party saw the premiere of the Fritz written play where Des Champs is made fun of)? Given Fritz was usually less than thrilled when his favourites did that, it's all the more interesting this doesn't seem to have happened here.

felis: 1742! No idea why Fritz didn't object (that we know of) but maybe it was one of those rare instances where he liked the woman, or Keyserlingk managed to reassure him, given this line in his eulogy (written by Mauptertuis by the way, not by Fritz):

It was not a tranquil feeling that he had for the King, it was a real passion in which he found himself. He wanted everyone to see him, know him, and love him. So what care did he not take, as soon as a foreigner appeared at court, to put him within reach of contemplating this monarch! To this love for his Prince was added another motive which was no less noble, the pleasure of rendering service; a pleasure so powerful in M. de Keyserlingk that one can say that he indulged in it without reserve; & that if one can reproach him, it is to have made of it too universal a habit.

(This might also explain why he showed König the letters and repeatedly praised Fritz' virtues and good heart.)

On his marriage: Such a character is assumed [to have] a sensitive heart, and his heart was. He was touched by the charms of the young Countess of Schlieben, daughter of M. le Grand Veneur, & Lady of honor to the Queen; & married her in 1742. It takes all that he found in her, virtue, beauty, talents, to excuse a Philosopher who sacrifices his freedom.

And some more info from Keyserlingk's eulogy:

Born July 5th, 1698, in Octen, Courland. His father died when he was nine and his mother was in charge of his education after that. "He was sent to Königsberg, where he made so much progress that at the age of 17, four speeches delivered in the same day, in Greek, Latin, French & German, had him receive a membership of the University. His work was ever more assiduous. Philosophy, Mathematics, Eloquence & Poetry occupied him at the same time, and he succeeded in all of them." He also had great skill in physical activities like dancing.
Grand Tour started in 1720 - Germany, Netherlands, two years in Paris - then returned to Berlin and entered Prussian service as a Lieutenant, got a regiment, became governor for Fritz. "Special circumstances [:PP] soon removed him from his Master, and made him return to his regiment. But the absence made him lose nothing; and as soon as the Prince had become King, M. de Keyserlingk found his fortune as advanced as if he had spent his life paying court to him." Passion for Fritz and marriage see above, more poetry writing, then bad health and early death, upon which the King "shed tears on his ashes". :(

Comments

[mildred_of_midgard]

Awesome, thanks for this! A little addendum on his daughter:

Fritz was godfather, and Preuss in his "Friends and Family" volume says that "der König sie den 15. Juli [1744] aus der Taufe hob."

Fredersdorf taking care of Keyserlingk's widow and daughter on Fritz's behalf:

As your royal majesty has ordered, I've given 1000 Taler for little Keyserling to her mother. The mother was deeply touched by your remembrance, and the little replica talks and talks like a rattle, she is the image of the original, delightful and vivacious.

Selena notes:

Keyserlingk's orphaned daughter Adelaide, btw, whom Fredersdorff wrote Fritz about re: her being a charming little chatterbox resembling Dad already, later as a teen joins EC's household and shocks our Lehndorff somewhat by being an unrestrained flirt who gets away with everything, including ditching one fiance for another (EC has to write to Fritz for permission on that one, but Fritz is all "I'm fighting a three front war, you do that stuff, and also, let the kid marry whoever she wants") and then, post marriage, proceeding to have affairs and get royal permission to divorce no longer wanted husband 1 (this is post war, Fritz is back by now) for husband 2.

Future FW2: What.

Heinrich: How?

I guess the explanation is that Fritz felt he owed her father for having been nice to teenage Crown Prince Fritz about his budding sexuality?

[felis]

Ah, right, that slipped through the cracks. And that's a lovely addition! I think I only knew of it through references, but either hadn't read or didn't remember the details here, i.e. Fredersdorf's completely adorable description of Adelaide. The fact that he must have known Keyserlingk very well himself makes it all the more poignant.